by Alex McFarland

A church congregation functioning at its best is a beautiful thing to experience.  I was recently reminded of this while attending a funeral service.  My heart was stirred as I watched fellow church members shower the bereaved family with love, prayers, and home-cooked meals.  About a week after the funeral, one of the family members approached and told me, “Our pastor has been so faithful, and we’ve really felt God’s love throgh all of the members reaching out to us.  We’ere gonna be okay.”

In this era of high profile churches and Christian celebrities, the significance of the humble local church is easy to miss.  We need to take a closer look.  Whatever else it may be, the local church , when it acts as Christ’s body, is a mostly low-tech place where members seve God by serving each other.  It’s a biblical principle: When a church member hurts, the body hurts, and its members are there to meet the hurting members’ needs.

Of the more than 384,000 Christian congregation in America, most number less than 125 worshipers on any given Sunday morning.  Most will never podcast their sermons, much less garner national or international media coverage.  Week after week, most churches quietly continue, as individuals and small groups, to go aboat their two-millenia-old mission.

The rough economy and increasing competition for donor dollars from other non-profits are leaving church offering plates less full than ususal for this time of year.  A recent study predicts that giving to churches will decrease by some 3 to 5 billion dollars during this fourth quarter.  According to one estimate, about one third of all families who regularly contribute to a church will donate less than usual this quarter.

Still, churches press ahead, doing their best to meet members’ needs.  As members cope with economic hardship, nearly 40 percent of churches are offering financial counseling to guide them through their monetary struggles.  An estimated 52 percent of churches (both Protestant and Catholic) have programs in place “to provide food, clothing, and basic needs” for those in economic peril.

I believe that America’s churches are as important today as they were in 1835, when Alexis DeToquiville penned this famous observation: “Not until I went to America’s churches and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her greatness and power.  America is great because America is good, and if America cesases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

Some today would disagree with DeToqueville.  Many would indicate a tactit agreement with the sentiment expressed in the title of Christopher Hitchen’s book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.  A 2008 poll of 18-29 year olds revealed that about 80 percent of those surveyed had a negative view of organized churches.  Nearly 90 percent agreed with the statement, “Someone may have a good relationship with God without being involved in a church.”

But when I become concerned about the church’s place in our spiritually dull society, I remember that caring about people will always be relevant. I think about people I’ve met along my ecclesiological journeys throughout America: People like Ed, who voluntarily fitted his pickup truck with expensive devices that keep meals hot which he transports to area shut-ins each week.  I think about Joel, a busy college students, who for two years now has organized fellow students from his Sunday School class to sing in a rest home each week–just because.  I think about Lynn.  As a retired international airline stewardness, Lynn fluently speaks half a dozen langauages.  For years, she has led literacy courses for immigrants and taught ESL classes to hundress–through her local church.

The church affirms life at every stage, provides fellowship, community, instruction, and care of the soul.  Churches carry out their all-important function of teaching people about God, the Bible, Jesus, and salvation.  Churches teach people of all ages how to worship, how to serve, how to live and how to prepare for eternity.

This season, take in a simply performed, small church’s Christmas play and appreaciate the fact that it was probably funded out of the pocket of the same person recruited to direct it.  Join in singling some carols that may be accompanied by an out-of-tune piano, and marvel at the beauty of withered hands that still play publicly past age 75.  Let the pastor know how his message inspired you.  Take nothing for granted. Thank those in congregation who invest their lives in the souls of others, including yours and of your loved ones.

Make your church a vital part of your Christmas experience this holiday season. Do more this year than just mail a check to an out-of-town non-profit organiation.  Remember your local church. Say a prayer of thanks for it. Better yet, get involved.

article adopted from PowerforLiving

First Baptist Church of Perryville is located at 4800 W. Pulaski Hwy., Perryville, MD across from the Princpio Health Center.